Not a great deal of time for creative thinking recently, so thought I would share a prayer meditation that I have written for the revision of my book, Rhythms of Grace. It's called Lost and Found and reflects how those of us in the evangelical and charismatic traditions sometimes feel:
Lost and Found
Here I am Lord
Caught in my compulsion to busyness
Trapped by my ambitions and my goals
A prisoner to expectations within and without
Living at speed
Rushing A to B
Locked in cruise control;
Living on the edge
Always on the go
Exhausted (but still strong!)
Worn-out (but who would guess?)
Lost in my activity (hope it doesn’t show!).
And longing -
For a better way to live
For something deeper
More substantial, solid, real
Longing for you if truth be known
For I have lost you in the crowd
I can’t hear you in the noise
I don’t feel your hand upon me like before.
But something stirs within me now
And hope wells up afresh
You love me as I am
And where I am right now
And I can simply be myself
In all my humanness
And let the Shepherd find this sheep
And hold me once again
No fear or shame or need to hide
But joy that I am found.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Torches and umbrellas
Soon after we were married my wife and I became missionaries on the island of Borneo. As well as assembling a lengthy ‘kit list’ we were encouraged to take with us two essential pieces of equipment: an umbrella (for protection against sun and rain), and a torch (so we could find our way in the dark). Of the two the torch became the most essential. We were often in places with no street lighting and at night it was pitch black. There was always the danger of falling into a ditch or treading on a snake, both of which we felt it better to avoid as we made our way home!
The Bible is described as a lamp for our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Over the years of my own spiritual journey scripture has played a formative part in making me who I am and in guiding my steps. Three scriptures in particular have had a powerful effect on me, shining the light of God’s wisdom and grace onto my own spiritual pathway.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1John 3:1
Like most people the early years of my Christian life were filled with enthusiastic activity, and to some extent my identity was tied into my ministry. As a pastor I found that if things were going well in church, I was happy with myself; but if things were going badly I was miserable and out of sorts. It is a common trap that many of us fall into – finding our identity in what we do, rather than in who we are.
Gradually over the years the truth of my identity in Christ began to dawn on me, and then the joyful realisation that not only am I God’s child, I am his beloved child – loved unconditionally, with a love that will never change or diminish, and which finds its source and its strength not in my performance but in the nature of God. This revelation came largely through reading Henri Nouwen’s wonderful book The Return of the Prodigal Son (DLT 1994), but also through meditating on scripture and learning in stillness to hear the Whisper of Love within my own soul.
What is the basis for your own identity? Your performance? Your status? Your success? Your relationships? Take a moment to remind yourself who you are in Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of your own belovedness to you.
For meditation: Jeremiah 31:3 Zephaniah 3:17 Jude v1 and v21 John 15:9 Galatians 2:20 Ephesians 5:1 1Thessalonians 1:4 2Thessalonians 2:13 and 16 1 John 4:10,19 Romans 5:8 Ephesians 3:17-18
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1Thessalonians 5:24
These words were written in the front of a beautiful leather Bible given to me by an aunt as we prepared to leave for Borneo. I didn’t realize the importance of these words initially, but they have come back to me time and time again over the years, reminding me of my calling and the fact that it is God’s work we are about, not our own.
It is so easy to seek to serve God in our own strength, isn’t it? We can be driven by our own enthusiasm, conscientiousness, sense of responsibility and will-power rather than the life of God. The result is that we are working for God, in the energy of self, rather than working with God, in the life of the Spirit. Failure and burnout are often the painful outcomes of trying to serve God with human energy, and we have to come back to the place where we recognize deeply within us that this is God’s work and he will do it, if we allow him to work through us. His faithfulness becomes the bedrock on which we depend, and his promise to enable us the ground of our confidence.
Can you identify ways in which you are tempted to serve God in your own strength? Take a moment to stop and pause, and realize that God wants to work in you and through you. Offer yourself to him to be an instrument in his hand.
For meditation: Zechariah 4:6, 1Corinthians 15:10, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:12-13, Hebrews 13:20-21.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Moving from being self-dependent to becoming Christ-dependent can be a slow and painful process, but once we have made the transition we can learn to abide in Christ and our lives become much for fruitful. We are freed to serve God in a way which is natural and relaxed.
The key to abiding in Christ is to practice the spiritual disciplines, those ‘holy habits’ that keep us connected to him and allow the life of God to flow into us and through us. For me this has involved discovering the benefits of retreat, and the disciplines of stillness, silence and solitude. It has also meant becoming more reflective about my life, being more intentional about meditating on Scripture, and recognizing and responding to opportunities for contemplation (those God-given moments of awareness of God’s presence when the focus shifts form me to him).
Spiritual disciplines are never an end in themselves. Their purpose is to help us ‘abide’, to stay connected to Christ who is the true Vine, and thus to share his life.
What practices have you discovered that help you to abide in Christ? How might you be more intentional about the spiritual disciplines?
For meditation: Psalm 46:10 and 62:1, Mark 1:35, and 6:30-32, Joshua 1:8, Philippians 4:8, Psalm 27:4.
The Bible is described as a lamp for our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Over the years of my own spiritual journey scripture has played a formative part in making me who I am and in guiding my steps. Three scriptures in particular have had a powerful effect on me, shining the light of God’s wisdom and grace onto my own spiritual pathway.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1John 3:1
Like most people the early years of my Christian life were filled with enthusiastic activity, and to some extent my identity was tied into my ministry. As a pastor I found that if things were going well in church, I was happy with myself; but if things were going badly I was miserable and out of sorts. It is a common trap that many of us fall into – finding our identity in what we do, rather than in who we are.
Gradually over the years the truth of my identity in Christ began to dawn on me, and then the joyful realisation that not only am I God’s child, I am his beloved child – loved unconditionally, with a love that will never change or diminish, and which finds its source and its strength not in my performance but in the nature of God. This revelation came largely through reading Henri Nouwen’s wonderful book The Return of the Prodigal Son (DLT 1994), but also through meditating on scripture and learning in stillness to hear the Whisper of Love within my own soul.
What is the basis for your own identity? Your performance? Your status? Your success? Your relationships? Take a moment to remind yourself who you are in Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of your own belovedness to you.
For meditation: Jeremiah 31:3 Zephaniah 3:17 Jude v1 and v21 John 15:9 Galatians 2:20 Ephesians 5:1 1Thessalonians 1:4 2Thessalonians 2:13 and 16 1 John 4:10,19 Romans 5:8 Ephesians 3:17-18
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1Thessalonians 5:24
These words were written in the front of a beautiful leather Bible given to me by an aunt as we prepared to leave for Borneo. I didn’t realize the importance of these words initially, but they have come back to me time and time again over the years, reminding me of my calling and the fact that it is God’s work we are about, not our own.
It is so easy to seek to serve God in our own strength, isn’t it? We can be driven by our own enthusiasm, conscientiousness, sense of responsibility and will-power rather than the life of God. The result is that we are working for God, in the energy of self, rather than working with God, in the life of the Spirit. Failure and burnout are often the painful outcomes of trying to serve God with human energy, and we have to come back to the place where we recognize deeply within us that this is God’s work and he will do it, if we allow him to work through us. His faithfulness becomes the bedrock on which we depend, and his promise to enable us the ground of our confidence.
Can you identify ways in which you are tempted to serve God in your own strength? Take a moment to stop and pause, and realize that God wants to work in you and through you. Offer yourself to him to be an instrument in his hand.
For meditation: Zechariah 4:6, 1Corinthians 15:10, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:12-13, Hebrews 13:20-21.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Moving from being self-dependent to becoming Christ-dependent can be a slow and painful process, but once we have made the transition we can learn to abide in Christ and our lives become much for fruitful. We are freed to serve God in a way which is natural and relaxed.
The key to abiding in Christ is to practice the spiritual disciplines, those ‘holy habits’ that keep us connected to him and allow the life of God to flow into us and through us. For me this has involved discovering the benefits of retreat, and the disciplines of stillness, silence and solitude. It has also meant becoming more reflective about my life, being more intentional about meditating on Scripture, and recognizing and responding to opportunities for contemplation (those God-given moments of awareness of God’s presence when the focus shifts form me to him).
Spiritual disciplines are never an end in themselves. Their purpose is to help us ‘abide’, to stay connected to Christ who is the true Vine, and thus to share his life.
What practices have you discovered that help you to abide in Christ? How might you be more intentional about the spiritual disciplines?
For meditation: Psalm 46:10 and 62:1, Mark 1:35, and 6:30-32, Joshua 1:8, Philippians 4:8, Psalm 27:4.
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